Z 6III connection and reconnect

Part of the Nikon Z 6III reference. Read the overview for firmware, survey scope and evidence levels.

USB product name

Observed (#363, Discussion #12): Nikon’s USB product string for this body is NIKON DSC Z6_3. The app compacted it to Z63, which matched the original Z 6. When the GetDeviceInfo probe was missed, the app then skipped pairing and wrote the generation 1 ApplicationMode property, and the camera showed a connection error.

Generation marks (Z6_3, Z 6_2, Z5_2, Z50_2) are now rewritten to roman numerals before punctuation is stripped, longest match first. A digit after the underscore means a serial number follows, not a generation mark, and the name is left alone. Synthetic: a facade test pins that an empty DeviceInfo with the Z6_3 product name still pairs.

Share Diagnostics now includes a local connect-attempt trace: the inferred body family, whether DeviceInfo was known, and the pairing decision. It uses closed model tokens (z6iii) and never a serial number, and it leaves the phone only when the operator shares the file.

Android USB dead write

Observed (Discussion #12, Z 6III over USB-C on an Android phone): the first bulk-out write, the 12-byte GetDeviceInfo command, returned -1 even though the USB device status read OK. The system MTP handler had left an aborted session on attach. The app already issued a PTP device reset, but still returned the failure, so every reconnect showed an error.

That write is now retried once on the same attempt after the reset. This is Android only; iOS USB goes through ImageCaptureCore. Synthetic: a JVM test pins the retry. [verify-on-HW]: reconnect after a pending live view on the same phone.

Camera access point

The ZR’s network name can be derived from its PTP friendly name; a Z 6III’s cannot. A camera access-point setup with no stored network name used to skip the join entirely. It now asks the system to join by the Nikon brand prefix, without inventing a model-specific name. The exact scanned or stored name stays authoritative.

Two bodies, one address

Observed (#293): pairing a Z 5 removed the saved Z 6III. Every Nikon camera access point serves its camera at the same address, and saved records sharing a host were merged. DHCP reuse on a router does the same. A shared address now merges records only when the names do not contradict it: two different assigned names prove two bodies. Forgetting one no longer deletes the other. Synthetic: regression tests on both platforms.